Atlantic Chapter — Iroquois Group September - November 2006

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Iroquois Group Information

Sierra Club — Iroquois GroupPO Box 182Jamesville, NY 13078

http://www.newyork.sierraclub.org/iroquois/index.htm

Chair Martha Loew 492-4745 mloew@twcny.rr.comVice-Chair Linda DeStefano 488-2140 linpar@acmgfcu.netSecretary Tasha Cooper 446-3750Treasurer Lynn Senke 676-5560 lynn@syracusebanana.comNewsletter DebbyShanahan 446-1273 debbys@verizon.net

Conservation OPENMembership Rebecca Paul 436-4103 rebepa333@yahoo.comOutings OPENPolitical Rhea Jezer 727-0123 jezer@ix.netcom.com Martin Sage 472-4977 mlsage@syr.eduProgram OPENPublicity Rocky Malamud 446-7823 rowenamalamud@mac.comSpecial Projects Lisa Daly 428-1384 ldaly@yahoo.com Debra DeSocio 329-0196 ddesocio@twcny.rr.com David Kapell david.kapell@windstream.net Adina Mulliken 428-1905 pepperballmeow@yahoo.com Rich Slingerland 298-3130Webmaster Scott Webster 446-3640 sigmaun@netscape.net

Iroquois Messenger is published February, April, June, September,

& November. Submit articles by the 20th of the preceeding month:

sierra.deb@verizon.netSubject line must begin with IM-

Explore, Enjoy & Protect the Planet

MESSENGERIROQUOIS

Book ReviewReviewed by Janet Allen

Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket. By Brian Halweil. 2004, Worldwatch Institute/Norton & Company.

Global warming, pollution, biodiversity, urban sprawl: Most of us want to take action on these “real” environmental problems. Our food choices seem minor in comparison. But Eat Here shows that our food choices impact all of these issues and more. Think of those grapes we enjoy in the middle of the winter — shipped thousands of fossil-fuel-polluting miles. As Halweil says, “It’s not always easy to stomach the fact that our food choices have landscape-shaping and climate-changing implications.”

He doesn’t underestimate the difficulties of restoring and preserving our regional “foodsheds.” We’ve ceded control of much of our food system to global corporations. We’ve lost many of our regional specialties, both plant and animal. Most of us have even lost the art of preparing food from basic ingredients. But he offers many inspiring examples of successful projects taking place all over the world.

Here are some personal action steps Halweil suggests: shop at local farmers markets or subscribe to community supported agriculture programs (CSAs); encourage local restaurants, schools or other institutions to pur-chase locally-grown food; plant a garden to grow your own food — especial-ly appropriate when so many of us live in suburbs that were formerly farms!

If you want to understand the many environmental, economic, and social issues linked to our global food system; if you want to learn about the many ways we can solve them, then read Eat Here. And if you want to cre-ate a healthier world, then eat here, right here in upstate New York!

Your next Sierra Atlantic will contain a ballot for at-large members of the State Chapter. Watch for it.

Your next Messenger will contain a ballot for ExCom members of the Iroquois Group. We are seeking new candidates. So if you want to get more involved in the fun and satisfaction of environmental projects, please call 492-4745 or 488-2140.

Atlantic Chapter — Iroquois Group September - November 2006

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Environmental Digest

Local

Corporate Challenge

Although the race was cancelled because of the heat, the celebration went on. Iroquois Group volunteers once again demonstrated the feasibility of collecting con-tainers at large public events and their commitment to recycling.

Lowville Manure Spill

A year after the collapse of a manure lagoon at the Marks Farm, a Concentrated Animal Feeding Opera-tion (CAFO) in Lowville that killed between 100,000 and 250,000 fish and contaminated the drinking water source for Watertown, the owners may be making resti-tution with cash payments and ceding rights in land to the state that will eventually be worth millions of dol-lars. Unfortunately, the potential for future disasters still looms, because the DEC relies on consultants hired by the owners to certify that farms meets regulatory stan-dards. According to their planner, the Marks Farm was in compliance in March 2005, yet a DEC inspection after the spill showed 11 problems of non-compliance.

State

Verifiable Voting

After years of promoting only electronic touch screen voting machines, four companies have submitted paper ballot scanners for certification testing in New York.

Advocacy by citizens calling for paper ballot systems forced voting machine vendors to begin demonstrating paper ballot scanners in New York. Recently, the State Board of Elections announced that four vendors had submitted such scanners for certification testing.

The Brennan Center for Justice, a non-partisan think tank, announced that there are more than 120 security threats to the three most commonly purchased electronic voting systems. The study, the most com-prehensive of its kind, examined optical scanners and touch-screen machines with and without paper trails. While there have been no documented cases of touch screen voting machines being hacked, there have been attacks on computerized gambling slot machines using similar software.

National

Cool cities

A guide from National Sierra Club at http://www.coolcities.us/files/coolcitiesguide.pdf provides tools and helps to enlist communities in the “cool cities” move-ment. These are cities that have made a commitment to stopping global warming by signing the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/climate.

From hybrid vehicle fleets in Charlotte, to green buildings in Austin, and homes powered with renewable energy everywhere, local governments are developing innovative energy solutions to curb global warming and save taxpayer dollars at a time when the federal govern-ment is failing to act.

If you want to network with other citizens and get your city to begin a Cool Cities campaign in New York write bobbie.josepher@sierraclub.org.

Whistleblowers at Risk

The Bush administration has declared itself immune from whistleblower protections for federal workers under the Clean Water Act, according to legal documents re-leased today by Public Employees for Environmental Re-sponsibility (PEER). As a result of an opinion issued by a unit within the Office of the Attorney General, federal workers will have little protection from official retalia-tion for reporting water pollution enforcement break-downs, manipulations of science or cleanup failures.

Renewable Fuels

A recent study of petroleum alternatives at the Uni-versity of Minnesota compared the energy gains between ethanol (derived from corn grain) and biodiesel (derived from soybeans). Ethanol produces a 25% gain over all the energy used to produce it, while biodiesel produces a 93% gain. In addition, ethanol produces 12% fewer greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels, while biodiesel produces 41% fewer. The scientists reported that prairie grass may provide greater environmental benefits as a fuel source than the two currently consid-ered

Atlantic Chapter — Iroquois Group September - November 2006

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Save More — Sierra Club Calendars will be available at Sierra Club events for $11 each

Mail Order — Make checks payable to Sierra Club

Calendars c/o Betsey Keck405 Brookford Road, Syracuse, NY 13224ekeck@twcny.rr.com

Discount Prices! No Tax! No Shipping Charge!

Item Price Quantity Total

Engagement Calendar $13 _______ _______Wall Calendar $12 _______ _______TOTAL _______

Name _____________________________________Address ____________________________________City __________________ State ___ ZIP _________Phone ( ) _______________________________Email _____________________________________

Fall Schedule — from page 4

Tinker Falls — September 30

On Saturday, take a 3-mile round-trip, hilly hike starting from Tinker Falls at 10:30 AM to Enchanted Hollow, where we’ll stop for lunch, then return the same way. There will be a quick 5-minute flat walk to bottom of the falls, plus an additional 2 miles round-trip, up to a view of Labrador Hollow. Bring water, lunch, raingear, and sturdy shoes or boots. Meet at Tinker Falls parking area.

Take I-81 to Exit 14 (Tully). Take Rt. 80 East 4.1 miles (through Apulia). Turn right onto Rt. 91 South. Go 3.2 miles to Tinker Falls parking areas on the right side of the road by the large yellow person crossing signs — about .2 mile past the Cortland County sign. If these two areas are full, there is more parking slightly north on Rt. 91. We will arrange a shuttle. Adina: 315-428-1905, pepperballmeow@yahoo.com

Stone Quarry Hill Art Park — October 15

Join us, on Sunday, October 15, as we explore the Link Trail and Stone Quarry Hill Art Park area. Linger for a Gallery opening and music, starting at 6:00 PM. There are two options.

1. Meet at 1 PM at the Link Trail parking lot in Ca-zenovia, for a walk up the hill to the Art Park and back — roughly three miles over hills and uneven terrain. Directions: turn South on Mill Street in Cazenovia and continue onto Chenango Street. The parking lot is on your left.

2. Drive directly to Stone Quarry Hill Art Park and explore the trails on your own, including the new Old Orchard trail. Directions from the West: travel through Cazenovia, heading east on route 20. Just outside of Cazenovia, watch for the Art Park sign, and turn onto Stone Quarry Road. Entrance to the park is on the right side of the road. From the East, you will need to turn left on to Stone Quarry Road, just before reaching Cazenovia.

Tasha Cooper: 446-3750 tasha.cooper@gmail.com

Atlantic Chapter — Iroquois Group September - November 2006

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Non-Profit Org.US Postage

PAIDPermit No. 29Jamesville, NY

Address Service RequestedSierra ClubPO box 52968Boulder, CO 80322-2968

Fall ScheduleIndoor and Outdoor Sierra Club educational pro-

grams encourage us to Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet, and are free and open to the public.

ExCom meetings are for Sierra members only on second Wednesdays at 7:30 PM, at changing locations this fall. Come and bring your ideas. 492-4745.

IndoorsIndoor programs are held the last Wednesday of

the month at 7:30 PM, downstairs at University United Methodist Church (UUMC), 1085 E. Genesee St. Park and enter on University Ave. Information 492-4745.

Atlantic Chapter — September 16

The Iroquois Group will host the Atlantic Chapter Meeting to be held from 10AM to 6PM (Come at any time) on September 16, at the Firehouse in Jamesville. This is an opportunity to attend a Chapter meeting with 11 diverse groups and learn what it’s like to govern a large state chapter. You’ll meet many dedicated Sierrans. Lunch will be $10.00. Come and help with the event and eat a free lunch.

ExCom — September 20

Climate Change — September 27

How is public information about climate change disseminated? How does that influence our attitudes? Does it affect people differently? Steven Brechin will share some interesting data about this topic. Steve is professor of sociology with interests in environment, natural resources and complex formal organizations. He is also interested in the social consequences and strategies related to biodiversity conservation.

ExCom — October 11

Coyotes — October 19

Living with Coyotes is a joint event between the Iro-quois Group and People for Animal Rights, held at the Liverpool Library on 310 Tulip Street. Liverpool, start-ing at 7 PM Thursday. Have you heard the song of local coyotes? Would you like to learn how to avoid conflicts with them, peacefully? Then come see a slide show by Robert Chambers, Prof. Emeritus at ESF and hear a talk by Jean Soprano, wildlife rehabilitator. Linda: 488-7877 (9AM – 10PM)

ExCom — November 8

Monarch Butterflies — November 29

A world without the monarch butterfly? Because of urban sprawl, herbicides, global warming and other factors, it could happen. Janet Allen will explain how homeowners, nature centers, schools, workplaces, and other institutions can save the monarch by creating Monarch Waystations along their route betwen Mexico and Canada.

Janet is a Habitat Steward for the National Wildlife Federation and is President of Habitat Gardening in Central New York, a chapter of Wild Ones. Her yard is certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat and by Monarch Watch as a Monarch Waystation.

OutdoorsOutdoor programs are usually on Sundays at 2

PM at interesting locations in the Iroquois Group area.

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